'I flatter myself that I never forget a face. Your valet is perfectly well-known to me and yet I cannot tell you who he is.'
Lavendale glanced uneasily towards the door.
'I shan't keep him,' he said. 'I hate prejudices, but I am full of them. The fellow's a Jap, of course.'
Suzanne did not reply for a moment. Her attention seemed to have suddenly wandered. Then she turned around with a little laugh.
'I am hungry, my friend!' she exclaimed. 'Let us go. And yet, remember this. Temporary servants are bad things for people who follow our profession.'
They left the room. Niko was standing with the front door wide open, his master's hat and gloves in his hand.
'I will be here at seven o'clock in the morning, sir,' he promised, 'and bring news of Perkins.'
Lavendale nodded. The door was closed softly behind them. At the bottom of the stairs he glanced up.
'Wish I could get rid of the ridiculous idea I have about that fellow,' he remarked.
'Is there anything in your rooms of particular—I will not say value, I will say interest?' she inquired.